04 Apr 2022 - Prayatna Mishra
Prayatna Mishra is an undergraduate student currently studying in Deerwalk Institute of technology. He believes in giving back to the community.
I always knew I would find myself in the tech industry from a very young age. But as I entered my 20s , I was clueless regarding which sector to choose in the IT industry. To find where my true passion lies, I had planned to explore every sector in the IT industry. With this purpose, I applied for a Data Fellowship organized by Code For Nepal and got accepted.
Making the most out of the opportunity and leisure time that pandemic offered me, I allocated 2 hours of my morning to learn even if that meant I had to be a morning person from a night owl. Each day I was enthusiastically learning and I felt more accomplished. During my tenure as a Data Fellow, I completed two courses from Career track : “Python Programmer” and “Data Scientist with Python”. All thanks to DataCamp, where lectures videos were informative, tutorials were effective and exercises were interactive and engaging. This all made my learning fun and not monotonous.
Being a Data Fellow, I didn’t have much idea about the impact that Code for Nepal was making until the networking event. After having insights about the organization , a part of me wanted to be part of the team and contribute to the cause . Then, I reached out to Ravi ( Founder and volunteer of Code for Nepal ) about my interest in volunteering . I also remember being asked , “Do I really want to do all the boring stuff that falls in program management?”. After fully convincing Ravi, I was part of the team.
Being a part of the team was different from being a data fellow. I had more power but had even more responsibilities. I was working with people who were already experts in their field. The perks of being the youngest one in the team is that you will be guided by professionals who are experienced . They encourage and bring the best out of you. I had the same perks , I was learning while assisting the team.
One of the grateful moments that I realized was when I got a chance to review applications of potential to-be Data Fellows.Reading through the lines I realized there were people in Nepal who have been deprived from learning but were doing everything in their hand to learn. At that moment , I felt grateful to be part of the team to provide access to those people.At that moment , I felt like the clueless guy found his Ikigai, a concept that emerged in Japan that says we are happy when we do something that gives us a sense of purpose. For me that sense of purpose lies in giving back to the community .
From that moment on , I have been working actively, assisting my team to manage and coordinate the Fellowship program. I plan to use my knowledge in the field of computer science and link it to make an impact in the field of education. Looking back, joining code for Nepal has been really fruitful personally and professionally. I have leveled up , made connections and developed a work ethic. I am pumped up more than ever to contribute to the cause and to make a difference through Code for Nepal.
I would also like to thank DataCamp and DataCamp Donates for the opportunity.